ABSTRACT
Citrus is a largely grown and consumed fruit crop worldwide. Fruit quality is an important concern of growers, consumers and the market industry. Harvesting is the process of removing fruits from plants. Proper harvesting at right time is one of the critical operations which decide the fruit quality. Citrus is a nonclimatic fruit, therefore, harvested when matured or ripe. Moreover, harvesting before or after the right time will result in reduced yield with poor quality fruits. The right time of harvesting is judged by observing commercial maturity indices in citrus fruit which are peel or rind colour, total soluble solids, titratable acids and juice content; however, relative importance depends on the citrus variety considered. Although maturity indices are an important part of quality standards, it is not sufficient to fulfil quality requirements where fruits are classified into different categories. Thereby, quality categories are also defined by fruit weight, fruit shape, peel disorders, pest damages, wind or hail scars and peel roughness. Furthermore, careful selection of harvesting techniques and harvesting equipment are essential to save fruits from harvest losses. Overall, this chapter will help the readers to understand the knowledge for harvesting citrus fruits to gain high value for the product.
